THE RELEASE - St. Cloud Muskies, Inc.

THE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 2013
Website:
www.stcloudmuskies.com
MEETING DATE
SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
7:30 p.m.
AMERICAN LEGION - WAITE PARK, MN
SPEAKER: DAVE MENDEL
Some New Options For Old Reels
Many of you know I have a fetish for fishing reels, especially bait casters for Muskies.
Abu Garcia has always been my choice until changes were made in design and quality. The
biggest gripe I have with design change is the ‘instant anti-reverse’ found in today’s reels.
For years my ‘go to’ muskie reel has been the ‘old style’ 7000 or 7000C, but I still like to use a
6500 size reel for baits that pull easy such as top waters or small buck tails. Unfortunately
today’s reels are the ‘instant anti reverse’ design.
This past winter I purchased a couple of 70’s vintage Abu Garcia 6000C ‘s. These
reels were designed and built like a tank when Garcia was at the top of their game, however
these reels were a 3.8 – 1 gear ratio. Too slow for anything other than Hawg Wobblers and
Creepers or my style of fishing.
Faced with this dilemma lead me to this great source of parts through a reel repair
business in Florida to convert these to 4.7-1 High Speed models. He also has a Narrow
Spool conversion kit to change old style 7000’s to a narrow spool and 5.3-1 gear ration.
At September’s meeting I will be bringing some of the reels and information to share
with the membership as an alternative to consider before you buy your next reel.
Time on the Water . . . . . . .By Bruce A. Kitowski, President
September already--it sort of feels like July/August in south Florida. I hope everyone is surviving the
heat spell. I would like to thanks Stanley Morgan for a outstanding seminar last month on Fly Fishing for large
fish. Stanley showed us hands on just what a person needs to do when out on the water. He covered lakes and
rivers. He also passed around a number of his homemade flies. The flies were beautifully and artistically done.
It made me think that this is another venue I need to start collecting. I know I need another lure like a hole in
the head, but in the sanctified words of Mike Ruff “they are just cool”. Richard stood up and took control of the
seminar on Lake Miltona. You could definitely tell he has spent some time on this body of water. He did a
great job and everyone was pleased how he answered their questions.
Please try not to miss the September’s meeting when Mr. Dave Mendel takes the bull by the horns and
shows us how to revamp reels for all kinds of applications. You truly do not want to miss this one. Also in
September is our Cass Lake Outing. It is always a wonderful time. If you get the chance please thank the folks
of Cass lake Lodge for all they do for us.
KKid
FALL GET TOGETHER 2013 . . . . . . . By Dave Mendel
September 12 - 15th at Cass Lake Lodge. CLL 218-335–6658
www.casslakelodge.com
UPDATE 8/26/2013
Hi all,
With only a few weeks to go here is the final update of this year’s event.
So here’s a schedule of events for the weekend.
Thursday:
Sea food buffet, 8:00 pm in the Lodge. (bring your own sardines, smoked oysters etc. to share) If
these flavored little fish don’t suit your fancy, feel free to bring some other snacky food. This will
be a good opportunity to meet new members and discuss the days fishing successes
Friday:
Fish fry with all the fixens. 8:00 pm sharp in the Lodge.
CLL will prepare an excellent meal and followed up with goodies from our Desert Chics, Bonnie
and Linda.
The cost of the Friday meal is $10.00 which includes dinner and a chance in a drawing of
attendance prizes, with one lucky person taking home a Knipex cutter.
Also there will be a camp fire to gather around most evenings for more story telling.
If you plan to attend please find the information below to contact the resort.
Hope to see you there!!!
The camping and cabins rates are:
Tent Camping
RV Camping / W full hook ups
Cabins
Boat Slips in the Harbor
$25.00 / Night
$36.00 / Night
$40.00 / Night / Person
$10.50 / Day
This year the resort will be saving 3 cabins for our event, and the use on the ‘Lodge’ for the Thursday night
seafood buffet. If you need a boat slip, please request one at the time you make reservations. Camping is in
limited supply and rented on a first come first served basis. If you plan to camp make your reservations early.
When making reservations, be sure to mention that you’re part of the St. Cloud Muskies Inc. group
We will be charging a $10.00 fee which includes a Friday night meal catered by CLL and a chance to win a fine
muskie rod. Plus everyone attending the Friday meal will receive a lure as part of the drawing.
If you have any questions please contact me at, 320 – 293 – 6633; mendjo1118@charter.net
Dave
Contest Standings as of June 28, 2013
Division
CURRENT
STANDINGS
Name
Masters
Bryan Thompson
# of Fish, # >
40”
4 fish, 0 > 40”
Point Largest
s
0
39”
Mens
Marc Jefferson
Troy Schmitz
Eric Kohn
Chad Schulzetenberg
Eric Poissant
Aaron Starry
Tom Ardolf
Nate Rose
Tom Agnew
Adam Kobes
Dennis Kobiela
9
5
5
3
3
2
1
1
1
2
1
149
61
58
52
50
36
20
18
18
14
9
46.5”
41.5”
44”
46”
49”
47”
46”
44”
44”
34”
35”
42.49
38.10”
40.50”
43.17”
42.33”
43.75”
46”
44”
44”
32.8”
35”
Juniors
Ryan Schmitz
Sam Larsen
3
1
32
17
38”
42.5”
36.7”
42.5”
Lunker of the Month
May
Bryan Thompson
June
Aaron Starry
July
Marc Jefferson
August
Eric Poissant
37.5
47”
49”
Birch Lake (WI)
Mille Lacs
45”
LOW
Sugar
Avera
ge
35.38”
MEMBERSHIP REPORT. . . . . .By Marc Jefferson
Greetings! Membership hold steady at 98. Ken and Norine Schmitt, Dave Mendal, Bruce Kitowski,
Bryan Thompson, Chad Schulzetenberg and Tom Rusin are all up for renewal, at least as far as I can tell with
these backwards spreadsheets and reporting we now get from the International. I can’t interpret half the stuff
they give me now, but I can definitely help you out if you’re having any membership or contest issues or
questions. My number is 320-266-6456.
CONTEST REPORT . . . . . .By Marc Jefferson
We have 12 fish registered so far in August for the contest. Mr Dennis Kobiela debuts with a 35” on a
Rad Dog. Eric Kohn puts 3 more Vermillion fish on the logs with a multiple fish day to jump up to 3 rd place.
Tom Ardolf also caught a nice fish on Sugar lake on a bulldawg, and Troy Schmitz also logged his 5 th fish of
the year. Now let me bring you attention to our current fish of the month. Eric Poissant was in quite a tizzy
earlier this month after losing his first fish on a figure 8. He was depressed, confused and mired in self-doubt,
trying to figure out what went wrong. Most people would agree that getting that first fish to eat on the 8 is - by
far - the hardest. After that, the more you get, the more you get. Well, Eric got right back out there on the 15 th
to Sugar Lake, and dominated a 49” with some sexy boatside moves – BOOM! This fish is also his personal
best, out of a notoriously tough and unforgiving body of water nonetheless. Congrats Eric on your PB and fish
of the month.
I didn’t think I’d have to take a week off at the end of August due to water temps after such a nice, mild
summer so far. This time of the year I usually have all my topwaters ready to go and start fishing that great
shallow sand bite we have here in the metro. September might get off to kind of a slow start here but I still
think it’s gonna be on once this heatwave breaks, hopefully by the time everyone reads this. I hope everyone is
making plans to attend the club outing on Cass Lake in a few weeks. This is always one of my favorite trips of
the year and I’m looking forward to hanging out up there with everyone. As always, we appreciate all the fish
logged for the contest, good luck in September and get out there and stick a pig.
August Fish of the Month – Eric Poissant – 49”
First night fish!! On the 8!! 43"
NEWSLETTER EDITORS
Ken and Norine Schmitt
1208 8th Street South
Waite Park, MN 56387
E-Mail to KENOR@JUNO.COM
WEB E-MAIL: info@stcloudmuskies.com
PROGRAM DIRECTOR REPORT . . . . . . By Aaron Meyer
What a strange summer! When I wrote last month's newsletter at the end of July, we were experiencing a major
cold snap that drove the water temps steadily downward for weeks. Now, at the end of August when we
normally start getting cooler nights and relief from the heat, we are in the midst of a heat wave that's driving
those water temps above where they normally wouldn't be this late in the season! I hope you all are finding
some good fishing. It has certainly been spotty.
I got the news a little while back that Paul Diedrich has retired from his position as the Area Supervisor for the
Montrose Fisheries Office. Joe Stewig has moved into Paul's position. I would like to congratulate Joe and look
forward to working with him in the future!
We were able to help secure a grant through the Hugh Becker Foundation that will fund a PIT tag study of the
muskies being stocked into the Horseshoe Chain this fall! Joe will be speaking at our November 19th meeting
discussing the population assessments on Sugar and the Horseshoe Chain, as well as talk about the Chain's new
muskie population and detail the PIT tagging study that will be done this fall.
I would like to thank Stanley Morgan for a great seminar at this last meeting. Stanley has a real passion for
fishing and it shows in the way he presents his information!
Our September meeting will be something a little different from what we've seen before. Dave Mendel came
across a guy who does conversions of various Abu Garcia reels, making them more durable and changing gear
ratios. Dave will discuss how to do this, and the benefits it provides.
I think this might be a good opportunity for another of our lure swaps too. These are always popular. Bring in
anything you might want to sell or trade, and a little cash because you just might find something you have to
have!
See you there,
Aaron
LAKE OF THE MONTH . . . . . . By Sven Larsen
I want to thank Richard Graff for his excellent presentation about fishing Lake Miltona at the August
meeting. I hope you all have a great time on the water out there.
Our September Lake of the month will be Cass Lake. See Dave Mendel’s article regarding this outing.
The final outing is planned for October 26th at Lake Alexander. Hope to see you there.
WEBMASTER. . . . . . . By Tom Ardolf
September 2013 Webmaster Report
Facebook: Well, I knew this day would come, when we did not get even one new like on our Facebook
page. I did receive a couple member pictures of recent catches that made it on the page, but that’s about
it.
Cafepress: I updated the dark apparel items with the enhanced logo from Sam. Everyone can now order
and get good looking apparel, both light and dark! Only one other person besides myself has ordered any
items on the site, so I’d appreciate feedback from the members as to what you’d like on the site that
would be purchased. (http://www.cafepress.com/stcloudmuskies)
Three new items with our logo are now available: A clock, a BBQ’ng apron and a thermos (pictures
below).
I purchased a number of additional items, and I will plan on bringing them to the next meeting for
everyone to see the products. Maybe we could have an “ordering session” at the meeting, or else preorder some items that folks would then directly purchase at the meeting? ….just some suggestions to
generate some activity….
Website: As always, I keep the Home page updated with the next event. The pictures that members
emailed to me were also posted to the Pictures page. Any contact that is forwarded to be posted is on the
site. Let me know what you’d like to have on the page!
Other: No news from my letter to M.I. on fish handling on Keyes Outdoors……
Here are a couple samples:
Tom - Web Guy for St. Cloud Muskies, Inc.
Scmi.webmaster@gmail.com
Mike Ruff -- Clearing Out Remaining Merchandise.
Thanks to the hard work of Tom Ardolf, Café Press is up and running for you to order merchandise
specific to your needs with our chapter logo on it. We have decided to clear out any remaining
merchandise in stock and will not reorder. We will use it at our next fish dinner for prizes but are offering
it first to chapter members at a reduced cost. Balance of inventory is as follows:
1 Small T- shirt with our Logo $10
Decals with our Logo
$2
Misc Hats
$ 10
Boat towels
$2
Knipex cutters, only 4 left
$ 40
I will have these items available at our meetings if you are interested on purchasing any of it.
Thanks again to Tom, be sure to check out the Café Press website.
JUST FISHING!!
Wow, did this summer fly by! I hope everyone had the opportunity (luck) to put a few more musky
pictures on their digital camera. Of the last three Muskies that came out of my boat: two were trolling nothing wrong with that. The weed edge is still working for me.
I just got back from my second trip to Canada; and it was a weird one. Mike Ruff and I could not break
the code/find the pattern for the muskie bite. The extreme heat and flat water was too much for us. We
struggled to find some small muskies but we did find large walleyes while Muskie fishing - that was the
weird part. Enjoy the fall.
Ron Fenske
Muskie fishing - Mike Ruff with a 27 inch walleye on a 10 inch believer
Muskie fishing - Ron Fenske with a 28 inch walleye on a 8 inch crank bait
Now here's the epitome of what Muskies, Inc. is all about -- a young musky master with his 43" musky!!!
Congratulations, Luke Jones !!!
Tom Agnew with a nice one to start August on 8/1/13.
St. Cloud Muskies Inc
1208 8th Street South
Waite Park MN 56387